The Land Behind – Details, episodes & analysis

Peter speaks to the philosopher Ted Toadvine about a wide range of environmental themes and issues. Toadvine specialises in environmental ethics and contemporary European philosophy. His new book titled The Memory of the World: Deep Time, Animality, and Eschatology explores the ethical and ecological implications of deep time from a phenomenological perspective and is available now via University of Minnesota Press.

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:44) Episode begins

(09:57) Why Toadvine wrote The Memory of the World

(16:56) Toadvine’s earliest experiences of deep time

(23:27) Reconciling humanity and the natural environment

(40:57) Technology and nature

(46:00) The problem with the Anthropocene

(58:10) The problem with biodiversity

(01:05:52) The relationship between nature and language

(01:10:12) What is eco-phenomenology?

(01:15:10) Nature as the horizon of all things

(01:20:07) “Nature loves to hide”

(01:26:08) Edmund Husserl’s description of the natural world as a “correlate of consciousness”

(01:31:48) “The sun did not exist before human beings”

(01:42:45) The ethical problems of global sustainability

(01:52:23) The relationship between deep time and embodiment

(02:03:43) The animals that haunt our humanity from within

(02:20:38) Derrida at the end of the world

(02:29:06) The cultural obsession with doomsday

(02:36:39) The phenomenological perspective of the end of the world

(02:47:20) A phenomenology of the elements

(02:52:04) Art and the elements

Peter speaks to the philosopher Al Lingis about what we can learn by looking and the ethics of seeing. Described as one of the most original voices alive today in American philosophy, Al is a keen photographer, and many of his essays are accompanied by his own images. During the episode Al describes the significance of photography to the development of his own philosophical thinking.

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(32.00)

Peter speaks to the site-specific musicians and installation artists Leander Knust and A. P. Bergeron in conversation on the other side of the North Atlantic Ocean. For two weeks, Leander and A. P. have been collaborating together at an artist's residency aboard a 19th century lighthouse off the east coast of Long Island. During their conversation, many questions are asked; Where and how do artistic endeavours begin? How can technology mediate the artist's connection to the natural world? What are the ways by which artists represent the relationship between themselves and their environment?

https://bangklang.bandcamp.com/album/an-arctic-requiem

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Photo: United States Coast Guard

Peter speaks to Robert Darch about his new self-published photobook 'The Island'. As a self-described “artist-photographer”, Robert was born and raised in the Midlands. In the early 2000’s, he studied his BA in Photography at Newport in South Wales before falling seriously ill for a number of years. After his recovery he found himself in Devon, where in 2013 he returned to study his MFA at the University of Plymouth under the guidance of Jem Southam. Drawing inspiration from his personal life experiences, Robert's work is a profound reflection on the complex nuances of the histories to which our cultural existence belongs. His latest photobook 'The Island' is a visual response to the psychological impact of political events, in this case the resulting social consequences of the Brexit referendum in 2016.

https://www.robertdarch.com/

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Peter speaks to Richard Beaven from his home in upstate New York about his experience being a British photographer living and working in the post-9/11 landscape of the United States. During their in-depth conversation, they remember the deep and complex geological, cultural, political and colonial histories of the Hudson River Valley where Richard now has his home, and what these multi-layered narratives of the Hudson watershed might reveal about the tensions and possibilities of the current state of American society itself. Having previously worked in the corporate world of advertising, Richard began to pursue a career in photography in 2011. Since then he has worked on assignments for clients such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Guardian. In 2020, he published the monograph All of Us in collaboration with the publisher Daylight Books. Focusing on the post-industrial and agricultural landscapes of upstate New York, Richard’s artistic practice seeks to reveal the spirit of the Hudson Valley in the faces of the people who inhabit it. As he alludes to during his discussion with Peter, his portraits are grounded in an air of empathy, hope and discovery. With this attitude in mind, he stresses the importance of interpersonal dialogue in his practice, including the imperative of being open to different ways of looking at the world.

https://www.richardbeaven.com/

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Peter speaks to Siân Davey to discuss how Siân's faith in humanity continues to shape her perception as a psychotherapist-turned-photographer. With reference to her photographs, Siân considers the restorative power of gardening during times of crisis. Throughout their conversation, they touch on the relationship between trauma and hope, Sian’s life as a mother, and the ways in which Buddhism has influenced her artistic practice. Meanwhile, Peter considers what a visit to the dentist can teach a photographer about what it means to live a life subject to the phenomenon of time.

https://www.siandavey.com/

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Peter speaks with the London-based documentary photographer Alys Tomlinson. Motivated by anthropological considerations such as the relationship between faith, identity and place, in 2018 Alys was the winner of the Sony World Photography Awards. In 2020, she was awarded first place in the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize. Having just published her new photo book Gli Isolani inspired by cultural events and traditions specific to the Mediterranean islands of Sicily and Sardinia, Alys speaks about her upcoming documentary film Vera, based on the hidden life of the Orthodox nun after which the production assumes its working title. Peter also asks Alys about the parallels between photography and anthropology. Together, they consider the ways in which the documentary image can represent the concerns and conditions that make us who we are as human beings, with the dignity and openness the photographer's subject matter deserves.

https://www.alystomlinson.co.uk

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Peter speaks to the ecological anthropologist Tim Ingold. During their in-depth discussion, they consider the nature of human-animal relationships and ecologies of perception. Meanwhile, they break down the false dichotomy between culture and nature, and consider the natural environment as the meeting place between earth and sky. With a distinguished career spanning over five decades, Tim is the author of 14 books and numerous articles. While he is known for his extensive research on the nature of landscape perception and the phenomenon of human-animal relationships, he has also written on artistic practises and has suggested ways of rethinking architecture, including how we might come to inhabit landscapes again. After graduating from the University of Cambridge in 1970, he spent 16 months with Sámi reindeer communities in northeast Finland. Following a year teaching at the University of Helsinki, in 1974 Tim became a lecturer in Social Anthropology at the University of Manchester. In 1999 Tim moved to the University of Aberdeen to assume the newly established Chair of Social Anthropology. As well as being a fellow of both the British Academy and the Royal Society of Edinburgh, he holds an Honourary Doctorate in Social Science and Art from the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi, Finland.

https://www.timingold.com/

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Peter speaks with the Glasgow-based documentary photographer and lecturer Simon Murphy. In a wide-ranging discussion, they explore the landscape of Govanhill as a crossroads between different ways of seeing, not least between photographer and subject. They also reflect on the photographer’s responsibility in representing the face of another, and consider the gift of vision itself.

https://www.instagram.com/smurph77

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Peter joins the Helsinki-based photographer and researcher Harri Pälviranta at his studio to discuss the various themes behind his artistic practice, much of which has been dedicated to making visible structures of violence and issues of masculinity. His recent photobook titled Wall Tourist, published by Kult Books in 2022, contains a series of self-critical portraits exposed against the international boundaries of state power that question the role of the travelling photographer in the creation of the documentary image.

https://harripalviranta.com/

https://www.instagram.com/harri_palviranta/

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